In a hollow-body acoustic guitar, the musical tones produced by the strings are intensified and enriched by the supplementary vibration induced in the guitar body including the top, also referred to as the soundboard. Accordingly, it is desirable that the guitar be constructed such that the soundboard is able to vibrate as freely as possible.
Further, it is desirable that the guitar construction have the necessary strength to support the forces exerted by the taut strings on the neck and body. The strings transmit sound vibrations to the soundboard through a bridge mounted to the front face of the soundboard over which the strings are tightly strung. To compensate for the tension forces produced by the strings, conventional guitars generally include a significant amount of structural reinforcement, e.g., various configurations of braces in and on the guitar body and tension bars in the neck. These reinforcements add considerably to the manufacturing cost and weight of the instrument and are known to affect the tone of the instrument. Accordingly, in the construction of conventional instruments some compromise is generally made, and structural integrity is attained in some instrument designs at some sacrifice to the instrument's acoustical performance. In some cases, the compromise is such that the instrument deviates from an accepted classical form so that, while the instrument produces an adequate sound, the instrument design may be uncomfortable for the musician.
Conventional guitars typically include a support structure in and/or on the body of the guitar for the fretboard. In some guitars, the fretboard is supported by a support structure between the soundboard and the fretboard. The support structure in these conventional designs tends to dampen the action of the soundboard. In some guitars, the fretboard is supported by the soundboard itself and is joined to the soundboard, for example, by glue. As described above, the tension of the strings tends to cause the guitar to bend toward the strings. In those guitars where the fretboard is glued to the soundboard, this tension can cause the fretboard to press down on the soundboard and deform it which affects the sound quality and playability of the instrument.
Conventional art attempts to improve sound quality and the structural integrity of the guitar have included exploring various alternative soundboard designs and the use of various construction schema using wood and composite materials. There remains, however, a need for a guitar assembly that provides improved sound quality with minimal structural reinforcement.